Hi! My name is Jeppe Nymand and I suffer from photo-sensitive epilepsy.
This blog is my attempt to make the world a slightly better place to live in for anyone who gets fatigue, eyestrain, migraines or even seizures when playing a game, watching a movie or going to a webpage with a lot of flashing lights or similar intense animations.
The contents on this blog consists entirely of issues I’ve come across while trying to live my daily life.
So why do I collect things that can hurt me?
I do this to help others and to make games safer for myself to play. Having to roll the dice and bet my health on the outcome each time I watch a movie, browse a webpage or play a game is an incredibly depressing part of my life. Because people who don’t suffer from this type of epilepsy don’t know there is a problem with their product, and they never will if no one makes them aware of it.
I am sharing these examples to show people that these issues aren’t just about flashing lights: There are so many more ways to visually trigger my epilepsy and a lot of them are still new to me, so I collect them as I see them. Since I don’t have any technical education and, to me, this is all black magic and arcane rituals, whatever input I have on a particular piece of code is going to be limited to giving feedback on how it looks and how it feels. However, instead of a mere display of something that was bad for me, I try to present each issue as constructively as possible and invite the developers to participate in the article and provide examples on how a particular issue was dealt with. Having devs share their experiences with having to rework an animation, a cutscene or an image means will help other devs and spare them from a lot of headaches, and, as a bonus, save me and other people with epilepsy from having a seizure down the road.
Why put it on display like this instead of going directly to the specific developers?
My hope with this blog is to give people an archive they can use to reference check their own products without having to go through all the stages of pain themselves.
The only way for people to learn about something is for others to talk openly and constructively about it.
No blame or shame is intended with any of the examples posted on this site, only an earnest attempt to use the seizures I’ve suffered to teach others what not to do in the future.
Why me?
I am extremely lucky when it comes the severity of my epilepsy. The seizures I suffer through are usually very uncomfortable, but ultimately manageable. I haven’t had a serious loss of consciousness seizure for more than 20 years, while others with my diagnosis have a 10% chance of dying immediately during any seizure.
So I feel like I can bear the burden to spare others the risk of death.
What am I hoping to get out of this?
Partly I do this to help others. Partly I do this to make games safer for myself to play. Having to roll the dice and bet my health on the outcome each time I watch a movie, browse a webpage or play a game is an incredibly depressing part of my life.
Contact Me:
Electronic Epileptic 